My date went so well that the guy is now dating me. I still have yet to tell my parents about him. I keep failing to ask him what he does for work, even though we talk every day. I did get word from the military base that my ex is back stateside, and they were going to transfer him to another state for my safety. I was glad they were because I could get a restraining order on him if he did something to me again.
I had to run to the store again for groceries for my mom. She is usually busy working in the barn or cleaning house these days, even though the house stays spotless thanks to all the kids acquiring their father's OCD. I was standing next to my full cart of groceries near the back when I felt a sharp pain. I dropped to the floor and barely looked behind me, seeing my ex standing there with a knife. When I tried to stand up, he kicked me down and kept kicking me as I tried to escape from him.
I do remember being able to get into camera view and try to call for help. I knew I had to stay conscious, too. The more he kicked me and beat me, the more I was losing the battle. I don't remember exactly what happened following two larger men grabbing him and wrestling him to the ground, but I remember trying to stay conscious as I lay back on the floor, looking up. Strawberry blonde hair and piercing blue eyes came into my line of sight as I tried to stay awake.
I could pinpoint who it was, but I could not figure out his name to save me. I felt the neck brace and them rolling me onto the backboard. I could feel my abdomen hurting and tried to scrunch up. A hand rested on my stomach. "It will be ok, I will make sure you stay alive." A familiar male voice said. The ambulance ride was not fun. I wanted to throw up until they put Zofran in my IV. I guess I was dry heaving when they did it.
At the hospital, I finally crashed under the stress my body was under. I did wake up in an ICU bed with oxygen in my nose and an IV machine running. There was a huge bouquet of wildflowers sitting on the counter across from me. I tried to move, making alarms sound. Nurses came running into the room. One called someone on the phone as two nurses checked me over. A few minutes later, my primary doctor came in.
He checked my vitals and made sure my eyes were not weird. When he was done checking me over, he told me to rest up. I was allowed to order food and tried to eat it. It was not great. A nurse popped her head in, saying that I had a visitor. I know it wasn't my parents because the nurses would have said my parents. My boyfriend came in holding a bouquet of flowers.
"How are you feeling?" He asked. "Still hurting," I said. He pulled a bag of food from behind the flowers. "You're amazing," I said. He pulled my bedside table up to me and pulled the food out of the bag. I ate the food with him. "Thank you," I said to him as he handed me the flowers. "Did you bring me those, too?" I asked him about the other bouquet. "No, I didn't have time and could only pick these up." He said.
My brow furrowed. "Who are they from?" I asked. He handed me the card. They were from my ex. "I don't want them," I said. "Who are they from?" He asked. "My ex-boyfriend," I said. "What do you want me to do with them?" He asked me. "Trash," I said. He trashed the flowers. He looked at the vase and put his flowers in the vase. He moved them closer to me. I sniffed them. They smelled amazing. I looked up at him and realized he was there at the grocery store that day.
"I should have told you what I did for a living." He said. "I should have asked," I said. "I did not realize that I was going to see you while I was working." He said. "I did not expect to see you either. I don't want to do that again." I said. "I would rather you not be in my ambulance." He said. "I probably should have told you what I'm doing for a living at the moment," I said. "And what do you do for a living?" He asked. "I help my uncles and dad run a massive ranch," I said.
We talked for quite a few hours until he said he had to go. He hugged me before kissing my cheek. My parents came by for dinner. I explained what had happened with it and definitely wanted charges pressed. They both understood.
A nurse came in later in the night, explaining that I would have to stay here in the ICU awake and able to use the bathroom on my own for twelve hours, then they were going to move me to a regular room. I tried to get up, and I could not stand without my abdomen hurting. I had to call for help to go to the bathroom. I did sleep all night and needed help all day going to the bathroom.